Recycling on the Homestead

Recycling takes on a whole new meaning when you’re living the homestead lifestyle. There are so many things that you use and discard in your homestead that can still be deployed for another purpose in the home. Other than environmental conservation, using such things around the homestead will enable you to save on time and money you would have otherwise spent going to the store and buying something anew. There is also a thrill that comes with taking something that initially seemed useless and putting it to use around the home. We will look at a few practical examples.

It is a common practice for many to purchase juice regularly and especially during the warmer times of the year. But what happens after one is through with drinking the juice? Well, many people will simply throw away the juice containers into the trash. After all, don’t they just seem to unnecessarily occupy kitchen space making it look unkempt and disorderly? At first glance, throwing the containers in the trash may sound like the logical thing to do. However, those juice containers can come in really handy in the kitchen. You can for instance use them as food storage containers.

Each one of us will at some point have some old t-shirts that you no longer wear either because they are worn out or are simply no longer among your favorite clothes. Such clothes end up crowding your clothes closet. But instead of just discarding them, you can always turn them into rugs. The fabric used to sew most t-shirts makes them just perfect as homemade rag for wiping and dusting the house and household items.

You can hardly find a home nowadays that does not have its fair share of plastic containers. Whether it is milk, cheese, butter or yogurt, many items are nowadays packed in plastic containers. If these containers are not put to another use, then you may end up with tens of empty plastic containers just cluttering the home. And just throwing them whole into the trash does not help either as this leads to environmental pollution – unless of course they are recycled. But instead of sending the plastic containers for recycling, you can make use of the containers yourself. You can use the containers to store leftover food, packed lunches for your kids, baby sized servings and picnic dips. You can also use the containers for storing animal feed and cleaning detergent.

There are many other things in the home that you can make use of. Old tires can be used to make swings for the children. In the farm environment, strips of old pantyhose can be used to tie tomatoes stalks onto their stakes for better growth. You can use shopping paper bags as trash can liners. Waste from your motor vehicle can also find use in the home – used engine oil may be used to paint barns (sometimes). Since you were already discarding the oil anyway, using it is cheap and protects the wood surface from insects giving your barn a glossy and attractive finish.

Shipping pallets are another great item to recycle into many uses on the homestead. Whole articles have been written on what to do with pallets. Small animal shelters, playhouses, sheds, to stack haybales on, and of course firewood.

What’s really more important though is to reduce your waste on the front end. Make a contientious effort to shop and buy things with as little packaging as possible, or with packaging that is easily recyclable, like glass.

When you use your imagination you can give MANY items a second life on your homestead, and save your pocketbook a whole lot in the long run. Make a game out of it and it can turn into a fun family competition.